Fellow STers,
I’m preparing to move from Michigan to Lexington, KY for school, leaving behind my beloved race team and some awesome trails and road races. Looking on USAC isn’t very helpful–doesn’t seem like there are many sanctioned races posted for the Kentucky area.
Is anyone from around that area? Anything I should know about the racing/tri scene? Are there many venues for CX riding/racing (I know the championships are going to be there soon)? Other stuff I should know?
thanks in advance!
Stop in here: http://www.swimbikerunofkentucky.com/
Also contact Gary Ditsch: http://www.endurancebasecamp.com/ he and his wife Nikki are great people; really a huge part of the Lexington community.
Stop in here: http://www.swimbikerunofkentucky.com/
Also contact Gary Ditsch: http://www.endurancebasecamp.com/ he and his wife Nikki are great people; really a huge part of the Lexington community.
Great links–thanks for the info!
I live in Louisville, which is about 75 minutes away. There is a tri shop here called V02 Multisport ( http://www.vo2-multisport.com/), as well as a tri club called the Louisville Landsharks (http://www.louisville-landsharks.com/). There are a number of organizations that put on triathlons in the area, but I believe Head First Performance has the most (http://www.headfirstperformance.com/). They also organize road and trail running races. And of course Ironman Louisville is here in August.
You’re correct that the UCI World CX Championships are going to be here (http://www.louisville2013.com/). The CX USGP also comes through Louisville. I believe their race is in the fall. There is also a regional CX racing series called Ohio Valley Cyclocross that you may be interested in (http://www.ovcx.com/).
There are running races most weekends within a short drive. River City Races (http://www.rivercityraces.com/) typically does a good job maintaining a calendar of running events.
Welcome!
This is the local tri-club: http://www.bluegrasstri.com/index.html. Facebook link on that page, as well as an up-to-date local calendar.
Thanks everyone for your help! I’ll keep this stuff on my browser and take a look throughout the summer.
Looking at my wife’s (Nikki) race schedule here are cycling events this summer: May 5th, Mt. Victory Road Race, London, May 12th, Frankfort Crit, May 28, Bike Lexington Crit, June 2, McDonald’s Tri-State Crit (west virginia), June 9, River City Bike Classic, Evansville, IN, June 17, KY State Road Race, Waddy KY, June 23-24 Bloomington Cycling Grand Prix, Bloomington, IN, June 30, Hyde Park Blast, Cinci, OH, July 28, KY State Crit, Louisville, Aug 4, PUR Tour Crit, Mason, OH
That’s her team schedule, likely a lot more races not on the list at different locations. If you are coming for school you should join the UK Cycling Team as it was a great experience for my wife. Good support, good group and they have 3 at Nationals this weekend.
The Bluegrass Cycling Club is a great resource and their Tuesday rides appear to be the training ground for the hardest bike workouts of the week.
For run races check out John’s Run/Walk calendar: http://johnsrunwalkshop.com/race_calendar.html
When you get to town let me and I’ll help you find the people you need. Lexington is never talked about, but we have silently been a great place for endurance athletes for a long time.
Oh yeah, I forgot Gary is on ST…
In reality someone emailed me and let me know, glad they did and I could provide some info.
One thing I left out, we just hosted the largest women’s only bike polo tournament (happened last weekend): http://vimeo.com/32291697 
X2 on Swim bike run and Gary!
I moved here from Ohio and was surprised by the number of triathletes here.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you are only a little over an hour from Cincinnati and some good events up there .
Also, as far as swimming goes, the masters program here is pretty amazing with far more pool time available than others I have been part of.
Also make sure you take a break from some workouts in spring and fall and go to Keeneland!
Gary, it’s nice to (virtually) meet you. I’ll definitely be in contact with you once I get into Lexington! And thanks for the heads-up about the UKY team–I’ll check that out as well.
One of the hardest decisions to make for my school selection was honestly how good the endurance sports looked, so it’s a relief to see that this choice was the right one. Pretty much the only thing that keeps me going between my classes and teaching (grad assistant) is having roads and trails to ride and run daily.
Plus, those hills…choice.
Todd’s Road Stumblers? Still going?
The riding around the Lexington, KY is unparalleled. You’ll see for yourself. There is nowhere that is flat and most rides run through horse country.
There is also a fairly large number of competitive cycling teams in the area built mainly around Cat 2-3 riders, so there is plenty of opportunity to race outside of the collegiate season as well. The tri scene is getting huge here, too, so if you have any interest in that, it’s an option.
Get in touch with any of us on this thread when you get in town and we’ll set you in the right direction.
On the flight down, all I could think once we got under the clouds was “I wish I could ride that road right now.” It never stopped. The hills in Lexington alone (the ones near campus that I saw) look like fantastic fun–I’m the group climber, apparently. I can’t wait to head out into the foothills and do some of those long, burning 2-3 mile climbs. Plus, I hear that it’s just a great area for overall outdoorsy stuff, like kayaking, hiking, etc…
I’ll be sure to get in touch with the folks on this thread. I’m currently cat 5, looking to cat up at the end of the season, but I’m training with mostly 3s and 4s–I should be in good position to start strong in the 2013 season.
I lived in Frankfort for a couple of years and the riding is fantastic between Frankfort and Lex. If you want hills, the Ky River provides lots of opportunity for up and down of decent length. But the area as a whole can best be described as rolling. Hard to find flat but it does keep the boredom down. Bluegrass Wheelman or whatever they are called now in the politically correct days have great hammer rides on some nice routes. Find some maps of the Horsey Hundred routes and use those for weekend long rides.